Repression of Sudanese civil society under the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party

Abstract

Political change in Sudan gathered momentum after 1989, with the government introducing policies of control and restriction on the one hand, and an increasing number of civil society organisations seeking to establish and legitimise their (autonomous) identity and secure their continued existence on the other. This article concentrates uniquely on Sudanese non-governmental organisations and civil society (notably community-based organisations), focusing on the regime's institutions and social organisation and social and political opposition to the regime. It shows how the Islamic movement uses religion and power to sustain and protect a political system which has lost its credibility and legitimacy among many Sudanese. The article focuses on the rise of the National Islamic Front from a small political party, through a period as the third political force after the election of 1986, to a ruling party in the wake of the military coup of 1989. It discusses structures and processes of rule under the National Islamic Front, as well as the causes leading to the failure of its own Islamic project in the country. It suggests that the rise of an Islamic movement in Sudan is itself a reflection of a decline in local or grassroots initiatives for social change, and summarises relations between the National Islamic Front and non-governmental/citizen-based organisations. It concludes that even in the absence of democracy, and under a brutal authoritarian regime, non-governmental organisations can engage effectively and contribute to social and economic change, particularly those affecting the marginalised poor, by raising issues of concern about, and promoting alternatives to, political Islam.